Think of all the necessities that a trip to the shopping centre requires.

You have to be able to get there, physically able to navigate the transport systems and move around the stores without too much difficulty. Whilst there’s always options, for those who are less physically able this becomes much more difficult. It can be hard enough to squeeze into a fitting room anyway, without a wheelchair for example. Campaign group Trailblazers reported earlier this year that three quarters of individuals with a disability shop online as direct result of their store experiences. Buses often only have room for a single wheelchair or pushchair, so if you’re not the chosen one on that occasion, you might have to miss out on retail therapy today.

Individuals who are conscious about their bodies may not mind being in the stores, but changing rooms are a whole different battleground of inner critics and shaming voices. Who hasn’t felt embarrassed and judged, convinced that the eyes of the whole world are upon us as we wriggle out of a pair of jeans that looked perfect on the plastic model? Marianne Clark, a doctoral student in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta, undertook a study on the experiences of women in gym and shop changing rooms, and found the psychological impact to be not insignificant.

Time is a key factor. For people with children, care roles, demanding jobs or something else that requires them to be at home or another location, an afternoon at the shops just isn’t an option. Even when you think you know what you want, inevitably something else will catch your eye, the size won’t be in stock, the traffic will be a nightmare, your card won’t work, or something else will happen that means that the brief trip is far from it.

Some people who suffer with anxiety find shopping trips particularly triggering. Busy, intense, stuffy and pressurising spaces and experiences; far from the fun day out that some revel in. But that doesn’t mean they don’t want beautiful clothes in which they look great.

New website Your Fitting Room helps with some of these stresses. Showcasing clothes from independent designers including Luck Be A Lady, Bodyfrock, Moka London and more (so let’s be honest about both the economic and body size privileges this entails) they allow you to pick items you’d like to try on from the curated store, before delivering them to you to try on at home and pick up anything you don’t want afterwards.

It’s a great way to see what things really look like in normal light, with your own shoes or other items of clothing, and without the sweat and stresses of the shopping centre. I had quite a good time parading around the bedroom in different dresses and tops I would not have ordinarily picked out, and ended up with a new dress for summer. I could try things on and think about what I liked or disliked, with no regard for other women in the changing room.

Technology may be one way to address some of the issues with shopping and trying clothes on, and a number of virtual reality apps and offerings are being developed. Gap launched DressingRoom app in January 2017, and Ralph Lauren piloted smartmirrors in 2015.

A lot of the products are very high end and so it’s a bit inaccessible for everyday shopping. And practically, given the fact that they need to pay drivers and travel, I can’t see the economic model working for high street stores. If you can afford to splash out and stretch the budget for a special occasion, it’s worth considering, especially if some of the barriers above make shopping more of a pain than pleasure for you.

Thoughts & Rhythms – August 9th 2013 by Francesca Baker on Mixcloud

Sorry if you thought that this would be an 8 page respite from the two words reverberating round the world the past 9 months: credit crunch. The media is as dependent on getting economic woes in their stories as Pete is/was/will never be again on getting his fix.
Even music is not immune to the effects of filthy lucre. Like a stone in a pond the ripples reach out and touch all – but what will be the effect of the economic downturn upon music?
There will be uncouth types with no soul who argue that our attention will be diverted to those ‘important’ things in life, ‘real’ issues, like food, water and warmth, and all frivolous entertainment will be forgotten. Bollocks. Those with real heart know that music is as fundamental as air. And that music is different from a music scene. Overpriced drinks and cool bars in Shoreditch may decline in popularity as scenesters promise to keep their pennies in their skinny jeans, but love of music will remain. Forever and ever. Amen.
The unlucky ones made redundant for a start have a sudden huge resource to spend on their love of music and discover their talents: time. An acquaintance who has lost his (dull) job in recruitment has been pouring all his efforts into his long term side project, northern band Neon Kicks. Not only is he far happier and got a spring in the step of his Converse, but their gig bookings have shot up.
The last recession spawned a frustrated youth, who went on to create the monster of Britpop.
Common People is the melodic bewilderment about them and us, those who do not really understand the plight of the masses. I’m sure there must be a song about poor bankers who will only earn tens of millions this year. Poor loves. Rock’n’Roll Star is the desire to break out of the cycle of dead end jobs. What great art that comes from struggle has is honesty combined with longing, which often results in hope.
Recent ‘scenes’ have been criticised for being pretentious, and the preserve of the fortunate. For example, The Brit School is hardly a cheap proposition. Nitty gritty working class music has always been traditionally seen as somehow cooler and poor authentic. Whether this is the case, it’s time in the sequence for the poor guys to take the lead. Could it be that the musical fashion cycle demands economic problems to provide fodder for these guys to write and play, and it’s music really calling the shots.
Alongside the romantic notion that an organic music scene will grow from people having the time to rediscover their passions it must be recognised that the music business is exactly that, a business, and money makes the world go round. Will cash strapped customers really spend their hard earned pound on the new must have song or 30 value pork bangers?
The thrill of the purchase remains. Lipstick sales go through the roof in recession. (I’m not old enough to remember a recession, I just work in retail and am bombarded with such useless facts.) There’s only so much self imposed restriction we can take – stopping ourselves buying an expensive coat/boat means that we can justify the CD to ourselves.
No one wants to forgo their nights of pleasure completely, so rather than staying in really being the new going out, I predict more and more will turn to local bands and clubs with a more personal experiences, avoiding the big venues where you have to mortgage your house just to see a dot that looks suspiciously like it could be Chris Martin. It pre dates the recession but the rise of Brudenell Social Club to become the flag bearer of all things indie in Leeds could be a symbol for how music can help revive a community and survive without big bucks.
Artists thrive without money – it’s the old cliché, an impoverished artist is a true creative. But artists are also shrewd businessmen and women, and won’t let a recession get them down. Business problems are there to be challenged – Radiohead reacted to illegal downloading by appealing to our guilt side and asking for donation for In Rainbows; no record label would promote Lily Allen, so she got attention via Myspace.
Creativity thrives in adverse times. The soul clings to ideas, meaning, escape – reality sucks, so any diversion is welcome. Creativity can be beneficial and solve problems – lets face it, doing things the way they’ve always been done, focusing on the money, has not done us any favours. Why not let the arty types give it a go?
Countless articles have been written about how the credit crunch will forces us to reassess what is really important in our lives. For so many that is music, and now is not the time to stop believing in its power to help solve our problems. As John Dryden wrote ‘What passion cannot music raise and quell!’